Research Assessment

What is research assessment?

The University of Fribourg operates with public funding and, therefore, is committed to pursuing research activities that contribute meaningfully to the advancement of knowledge, innovation, and societal well-being. The assessment of research can contribute to this goal when it is conducted in a responsible manner. Indicators and metrics have to be adapted to the object under evaluation, meaning that different processes are needed depending on whether research is being evaluated on an institutional level or at the level of the individual researcher. (For the former see the Quality Assurance Service @ UniFr pages.). 

UniFr's Approach to the internal assessment of individual researchers 

There are various situations in which individual researchers are evaluated at the University of Fribourg. They include the allocation of internal funding or the discussions that take place in recruitment committees. We believe that the various research communities are best placed to evaluate their own members and therefore faculties and departments act very autonomously in these instances. Nevertheless, the University of Fribourg is also committed to ensuring our evaluation practices align with current international best practices and with the most recent findings of research on research evaluation that are available to us.

This is why the UniFr is a signatory of DORA, and since 2022 also a signatory and member of the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA). Both of these initiatives are committed to privileging quality over quantity when it comes to the assessment of research output. CoARA is a participatory initiative, and through its membership the University of Fribourg has pledged to review its own internal processes of research assessment and to adjust them where necessary. This process is currently underway.

• What Is CoARA?

  The Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment formed around an agreement text that has been jointly drafted by Science Europe, the European University Association, and the European Commission. Today, well over 650 organisations are CoARA members, with more joining practically every week. In Switzerland, a number of key research organisations, such as the SNSF, Swissuniversities, Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences are already full members of the coalition. The UniFr, ETHZ, EPFL, and a number of universities of applied sciences are also full members, while UNIL, UZH, and UNIGE have signed the agreement and are currently in the process of becoming members.

  The CoARA agreement consists of ten commitments, including the pledge to abandon inappropriate usage of publication metrics, such as the H-index and Journal Impact Factor, when assessing research. This part of the agreement is in full alignment with DORA, which UniFr has also signed and made significant efforts to implement.

  The CoARA commitments, however, also include further points, such as a promise to abstain from using university rankings in the assessment of individual researchers and a broad recognition of the diversity of contributions to, and careers in, research. The agreement is further framed by the overarching principles of “Quality and Impact” and “Diversity, Inclusiveness, and Collaboration” that should at all times guide research assessment. The elaboration of the former principle makes explicit that CoARA seeks to integrate the recognition of contributions to Open Science within research assessment. In turn, the latter principle seeks to inscribe a commitment to research evaluation practices that are not only responsive to the diversity of disciplines, research processes, and individuals contributing to research but actively seek to value and enhance them. It is in these respects that CoARA broadens the path cleared by previous initiatives aiming to reform research assessment.

  Finally, it is also crucial to note that CoARA is anchored in the principle of scientific freedom and autonomy. It encourages each research institution to create its own path towards responsible research assessment.

• How Will CoARA Be Implemented at the UniFr?

  At the UniFr, we have begun to collect the planned and ongoing efforts in the various faculties and departments that aim to review and reform research assessments for inclusion in the CoARA action plan, which we will finalise this year and share publicly with other CoARA members.  The rectorate has further decided to install a CoARA Working Group consisting of representative researchers from all faculties, a representative from the CSWM, as well as representatives from the relevant central services (EDI, Open Science, SPR, and Quality Assurance) to both draft the action plan and implement it over the coming four years. By bringing together a variety of status groups and stakeholders in this manner, it is hoped that we will be able to increase the awareness of this reform and create robust and well-adapted solutions for research assessment in a collaborative process involving actors from across the UniFr. The Working Group will decide on the key internal topics and areas that our CoARA action plan will seek to address.